Fryeburg man pleads guilty to reckless driving after police chase

PARIS, Maine — A Fryeburg man who nearly ran over a police officer last November and led him on a high-speed chase to the New Hampshire border pleaded guilty to eight charges Friday in Oxford County Superior Court.

Derek Goode, 28, pleaded guilty to reckless conduct, failure to stop for an officer, driving to endanger, refusing to submit to arrest, operating without a license, criminal mischief and two counts of violation of condition of release.

In exchanges for his pleas, Goode received a deferred disposition, meaning if he stays out of trouble for 12 months the charges will be dropped. If he doesn’t, Justice Donald Alexander told him, he could face up to five years in jail.

According to an affidavit by Officer Thomas Hundley of the Fryeburg Police Department, Hundley was driving to work when a car began tailgating him and made an aggressive pass. Hundley wrote that when the car was passing him, he recognized the driver as Goode. He said he recognized his female passenger, too, and knew Goode’s bail conditions barred Goode from contact with her.

When Goode stopped at a stop sign, Hundley pulled his car in front of Goode’s, got out, and identified himself as a Fryeburg police officer. According to the affidavit, Goode refused to roll down his window, backed up quickly and drove forward, forcing Hundley to jump out of the way.

Hundley said he followed Goode at a safe distance while reporting what was happening to Oxford County Sheriff’s Department dispatchers.

Hundley’s affidavit said Goode was “swerving all over the roads and taking up both lanes. He was blowing through stop signs and intersections at a high rate of speed.” Hundley followed Goode’s car onto Main Street, where Goode crossed the state line and pulled over at the State Line Store in Conway, N.H.